The present invention relates to methods and systems for improving the performance of a department in a healthcare facility. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of evaluating and reducing inefficiencies in the department.
Healthcare facilities such as hospitals and clinics are generally organized in departments specializing in specific areas of medical science such as immunology, cardiology, and radiology. Generally, specialized personnel and equipment are available in each department to provide medical treatment in the area of specialization. Often times, these departments must repeatedly perform the same or similar procedures on many patients. By way of example, radiology departments often carry out many similar procedures using radiant energy to diagnose and treat disease. One well-known use of radiation is in the creation of radiographs that are used to evaluate injuries such as bone fractures.
In general, before a specialized procedure is performed in a department of a healthcare facility, a patient is evaluated by a physician that typically does not specialize in the medical area covered by the relevant department (the xe2x80x9creferring physicianxe2x80x9d). Once the referring physician has determined that a specialized procedure would facilitate the diagnosis or treatment of the patient, the patient is sent to the applicable department and the staff there conducts the requested procedure.
While the above description makes the process seem simple, examining a patient can be logistically complex and involve many steps. Using a radiological procedure as an example, following his or her initial examination, a patient must schedule an appointment for the radiological examination. Then, the patient must travel to the department at the appointed time and date. Upon arrival at the radiology department the patient registers with the radiology staff and is prepared for the radiological examination, if necessary, such as by donning an examination gown. The patient may then have to wait until an examining room is available and then is examined. Following the examination, the radiograph or other imagery must be examined by a radiologist. Finally, the radiologist prepares a report which is then sent to the referring physician.
The competence and efficiency with which each of these tasks is conducted affects the overall quality and efficiency of the radiology department. It also affects the patient""s and referring physician""s satisfaction with the services performed. Thus, to the extent that efficiency and satisfaction could be improved, the operation of the department, including such things as quality and profitability, could also likely be improved. Yet, scientific and other structured methodologies have not, in general, been applied to study and improve the operations of a radiology department or, for that matter, other procedures that are carried out on a relatively frequent basis in the departments of a healthcare facility. Accordingly, there is a need for a method or system of evaluating and improving the operations of a department in a healthcare facility.
Therefore, the present invention provides a method and system for measuring and quantifying inefficiencies in the operations of a department in a healthcare facility. The method and system are useful in identifying the root causes of inefficient operation of the department so that change can be effected that improves the operation of the department.
The method includes the acts of collecting a plurality of characterization measurements for a medical procedure, where each characterization measurement corresponds to an individual step in the procedure. The collection of the measurements may be done by a variety of known manual and automated techniques, none of which is critical, by itself, to the invention. Of course, like any measurement process, accurate measurements are desirable. Once the measurements are collected, a sum of squares analysis is performed on the measurements to determine the effect of each step on the examination procedure. Further analysis is conducted to determine the activities within each process step that have the highest impact on the time needed to complete the subject task that makes up the step. These activities are known as the key drivers. A regression analysis is then performed on the key drivers to determine the effect of the key drivers on the overall time to complete the procedure. The key drivers are then changed to adjust the procedure as desired.
It is an advantage of the present invention to provide a structured analysis of medical procedures conducted in a healthcare facility. As a part of the analysis, key root causes for inefficiency are found and analyzed appropriately. Another advantage of the present invention is that the procedure may be modified to reduce or eliminate the identified causes of inefficiency. This results in procedures that may be accomplished in less time and with less resources than previously obtainable. The reduction in time leads to shorter completion times and faster diagnoses and treatments. The reduction in resources leads to enhanced profitability and lower prices.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.